Life After The Undead (Book 1) (94 page)

“What
the…?”
He
screamed
and
jerked
at
the
cuffs,
attempting
to
free
himself.

I
opened
the
drive
r’
s
side
door.
“This
is
as
far
as
I
go.”

Ben
pulled
at
the
cuffs
again. “What
do
you
think
this
is
going
to
accomplish?
I
don’t
know
Liet
very
well,
but
I’m
sure
he
’l
l
come
after
you.”

“No,
he
won
’t.
He
doesn
’t
know
where
to
look
for
me.”

“He
’s
going
to
kill
me
for
letting
you
go.
He
specifically
told
me
to
never
let
you
out
of
my
sight.”

I
shook
my
head.
“You
’l
l
be
fine.
Just
deliver
the
fuel.
Nothing will
happen
to
you.”

“You
know
that’s
not
true.
You
know
he’ll
torture
me
to
find
out
where
you
are.”

“Well,
luckily
for
you,
you
have
plausible
deniability.
He
knows
who
he’s
dealing
with.
You
’l
l
be
fine.”

“How
do
you
know
that?”

I
shrugged
and
closed
the
door.
The
window
rolled
down
and I
turned.
Ben
poked
his
head
out.

“What
am
I
supposed
to
do?”

“Well,
I
’d
suggest
not
lingering
for
long. There
are
a
few
zombies
roaming around
over
here.”
I jumped
into
the
Wrangler,
and
we
waited
for
Ben
to
head
down
the
highway
before
turning
around
and
driving
west
.

CHAPTER
24

By
the
time
we
made
it
back
to
the
ranch,
the
radio
had
been
blaring
with
obscenities
from Liet
for
fifteen
minutes.
I
chuckled
to
myself
as
I sat
and
picked
up
the
hand
mic.

“I’m
sorry,
Liet,
you
’r
e
not
coming
in
too
clear.
Can
you
please
repeat
that
last
thing you
said?”

“I
’ll
rip
your
head
off
the
next
time
I
see
you. You
fu—”

I
turned
the
radio
off.
“We’ll
give
him
a
couple
hours
to
calm
down.”

We
went
to
the
living
room
where
Bill,
Kyle,
and
a
few
others
gathered.
I
sat
on
the
couch,
and
Quinn
stood
in
front
of
the
fireplace.
He
placed
his
hands
on
his hips.

“We
have
a
mission,
and
I
think
it’s
time
we
attacked
North
Platte.”
He
cleared
his
throat.
“The
original
plan
was
to
have
simultaneous
attacks in
both
Nebraska
and
Florida,
but
tha
t’s
impossible
to
accomplish.
There’s
no
way
to
communicate
with
Krista
’s
contact
down
there,
and
the
wo
rker’
s
don’t
have
much
time
left.
If
we
can
take
control
of
the
city,
we
can barter
with
The
Families
and
eventually
topple
them.
Here
’s
the
plan.”

***

We
were
up
the
next
morning
before
the
sun.
We
traveled
in
four
vehicles,
three
of
which
carried
four
passengers
each
and
headed
to
North
Platte.

The
fourth
car
was
occupied
by
Bill
and
Kyle,
and
they
were
going
to Florida
to
let
Tanya
know
what
was
happening.
We
didn
’t
want
her
to
hear
about
the
uprising
and
think
that
was
the
sign
for
her
to
attack.

The
temporary
chain-
link
fence
extended
almost
seventy
miles
both
north
and
south
from
North
Platte,
and
we
were
going
to
enter
the
area
on
the
far
end. It
was
pathetic,
really,
since
crews
worked
twenty-four
hours
a
day
and
they
hadn
’t
made
it
past
the
towns
of
McCook
and
Thedford.
I
suspected
since
Liet
was
such a
control
freak
there
would
be
guards
at
both
areas.
I
was
sure
he
didn’t
want
anyone
sneaking
into North
Platte
without
him
knowing
about
it.
I
assumed
if
anyone
was
dumb
enough
to
sneak
out,
they
let
them go.

Once
we
got
past
the
wall,
though,
the
real
challenge
would
start.
North
Platte
was
surrounded
by
another
chain
-link
fence,
guard
towers,
and
land
mines.
The
majority
of the
towers
were
empty
because
Liet
didn
’t
have
the
soldiers
to
fill
them,
and
the
mine
fields
were
relatively
new.
After
the
zombie
incident
in
town
and
the
lack
of
soldiers
to
fill
the
towers,
Liet
put
the
fields
in.
Only
he
and
a
few
of
the
workers
knew
exactly
where
the
mines
were.
I
hadn’t
even
known
they’d
existed
until
I’d
heard
some
of
the
female
soldiers
talking
about
it
while
I
was
chained
up.
It
made
our
plan
more
dangerous,
but
not
impossible.

It
took
us
two
hours
to
make
it to
Casper. From
there,
we
traveled
on
I-25
to
US
20
and
drove
to
Valentine,
which
took
another
five
hours.
It
was
a
straight
shot
south from
Valentine
to
Thedford
to
North
Platte,
and
it
only
took
two
hours,
but
we
had
to
be
cautious.
We
were
going
to hit
the
city
near
mid-afternoon,
and
that
meant
we
’d
be
very
conspicuous.
The
plan
was
to
park
a
few
miles
outside
the
city
and
walk
in. A
few
zombies
lurched
around
on
the
road,
but
they
’d
be
easy
to
take care of.
Out
of
all
the
obstacles
we
were
going
to
face
on
that
trip,
the
roaming zombies
were
the
least
of
my
worries.

We
pulled
over
a
few
miles
outside
of
Thedford
and
scanned
the
area.
Through
the
binoculars,
I saw
a crew
of
five
workers
and
two
guards.
I
handed
the
glasses
to
Quinn.

“We’ll
need
to
get
over
there
quietly,”
I
whispered.
“The
guards
have
radios,
and
we
don
’t
need
them
spoiling
our
surprise
party.”

Quinn
lowered
the
binoculars.
“One
of
us
should
approach
head
-
on
while
the
others
sneak
around
the
back.
I’m
sure
they
won’t
call
in
a
lone
straggler,
and
that
will
keep
their
attention
so
the
others
can
get
into
position.”